Mega Millions rose to $489 million after Tuesday night’s drawing produced no ticket matching all six numbers. If a winner comes in the next draw, the prize can be taken as 30 annual installments or a lump-sum cash payout of $220.9 million, with taxes and withh
Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing ended the way lottery players fear and secretly expect: no one matched all six numbers. That miss kept the jackpot climbing to $489 million, the second biggest prize of the year so far—now dangerously close to $500 million.
The winning numbers drawn were 48, 51, 60, 63, 66, and Mega Ball 20. With no complete match, the jackpot rolls forward, and the next chance comes on Friday night.
If a winner is found next draw, they won’t walk away with anything near the sticker number. They would have a choice between taking the $489 million prize spread over 30 annual installments, or opting for a lump sum cash payout of $220.9 million. Most winners tend to prefer the cash option.
But the math changes immediately. If the winner picks the cash prize. their winnings first drop to around $167.9 million after a mandatory federal withholding of 24% is applied. After that. the winner could face a federal marginal rate as high as 37%. depending on their taxable income. reducing the winnings again to around $139.2 million.
The installment route comes with its own squeeze. The annual payments would be around $16.3 million, but after a 37% federal marginal rate is applied, those payments would fall to about $10.27 million per year.
Then there’s the part that can feel like a second lightning strike: state taxes. Depending on where the winner lives, additional taxes may apply. Some states—such as New York—tax lottery winnings at 10.9%, while others, including Texas, Florida, and California, don’t.
For readers watching the rollover, the schedule is clear. The next Mega Millions drawing is set for Friday night. Powerball, meanwhile, has its next drawing Wednesday night, with its jackpot risen to $327 million.
The odds behind all of this are brutal. A Mega Millions ticket buyer faces 1-in-290.4 million odds to win the jackpot. Those odds are only slightly better than Powerball’s 1-in-292.2 million.
This isn’t the first massive prize to have sparked public attention recently. In March. a Mega Millions ticket sold in Illinois won a $533 million jackpot. which remains the biggest lottery prize of the year so far. The biggest Powerball jackpot claimed this year is a $250.8 million prize taken by a lottery player from Arkansas.
Between the escalating jackpot and the complicated take-home numbers after taxes and deductions, the question becomes less “what’s the jackpot?” and more “what will remain after the government comes first?”
Mega Millions $489 million jackpot Mega Ball 20 lottery jackpot taxes on lottery winnings federal withholding 24% cash payout 220.9 million installment option 30 annual payments odds 1-in-290.4 million